w w w . e l e m e n t a l e a d e r s h i p . c o . u k

higher education in a changing world agileuniversity

the

Strategic Agility

The ability of the university, as a living

human system, to thrive on and learn from

continuous waves of change such that change

becomes a natural and inevitable part of

organisational life and not an isolated and

threatening event. The ability to continually

develop new capabilities as a source of

sustainable strategic advantage.

The Elements of Strategic Agility

Strategic Understanding – The sharpness of strategicperception, clarity of purpose and the intensity of curiosity and attention. Empathy with customers and stakeholders.

Leadership Capability – The ability of the organisation to buildan inclusive community of leaders and to be able to make andimplement bold decisions fast. The ability of the ‘top team’ to beunified and coherent.

Alignment and Engagement – Helping people to get ‘line ofsight’ to the strategy whilst simultaneously enabling them to offertheir discretionary effort, diversity and creativity in a climate wherevoice, fairness and performance are all valued. The ability to partnerand collaborate with others.

Innovation and Resource Fluidity – The ability of individualsand teams to identify and act upon better ways of doing thingsand the ability of the organisation to reconfigure businessprocesses and systems and redeploy resources quickly.

w w w . e l e m e n t a l e a d e r s h i p . c o . u k

higher education in a changing world agileuniversity

the

Strategic Understanding

Strategy in a More Complex WorldThe need for individual HEIs to betterdefine who they are and what theyexcel at has never been greater. A morevariegated and globally competitive HEsector seems inevitable and the need to be distinctive and focused aroundcore strengths is now a strategicnecessity. Importantly, strategy will be increasingly framed by imperativesaround the student experience, thecommercialisation of IP, the ability toinnovate and entrepreneurial activitythat generates new revenue streams.Partnership with other organisations to maximise opportunity and efficiencywill also figure prominently.

Specific areas of support:• Facilitating ‘top team’ strategic

thinking and planning • Guiding and advising on nimble and

effective strategic planning processes• Facilitating ‘top team’ scenario

planning exercises• Carrying out strategic research

on behalf of the top team

Leadership Capability

Building an Agile Top TeamWe will work with you through a tailored process to support andchallenge the top team as it seeks toimprove its own performance. Thisprocess provides a framework for asenior team to lay out a road map tosustainable high performance. To clarifyits particular leadership role and value,and define what’s working well andwhat needs improvement and toengage in a different way of thinkingaided by a new kind of conversation.

Specific areas of support:• Top Team Audit (how effective is

the top team?)• Design and facilitation of top team

development programmes• Drafting of a top team improvement

plan

Leadership AgilityMost leadership models place far too much emphasis on the heroic or charismatic individual. We seeleadership as a collective endeavour.The aim must be to create a self-sustaining culture that can adapt to change.

Our bespoke Leadership DevelopmentService places an emphasis onprovocation, questioning, reflection,dialogue and an unstinting focus on‘real’ leadership challenges faced byreal leaders. It is based on robustconceptual models and grounded in very practical applications.

Specific areas of support:• Design and facilitation of leadership

and management developmentprogrammes

w w w . e l e m e n t a l e a d e r s h i p . c o . u k

your strategicagility

how we can help to develop

Coaching for a ComplexEnvironmentOur coaching service takes a systemicapproach, assisting busy people to seebetter the patterns of relationships andconnections that produce their statusquo.

Our coaches have access to a widerepertoire of enabling tools; theseinclude the use of appropriatepsychometrics. We blend an in depthunderstanding of organisationalstrategy, change and psychology anduse this in appropriate combinationsdependent on the context and needsof each client.

Specific areas of support:• Leadership coaching for senior

leaders

Alignment and Engagement

Collaborating Beyond Boundariesand Post- Merger CulturalIntegrationThe likelihood of increasingcollaboration and resource andknowledge sharing betweeninstitutions and even full scale mergerseem increasingly likely in UK highereducation. Our experience offacilitating strategic partnerships andalliances and in the integration ofmerging organisations in both publicand private sectors means that we have both credible practical experiencetogether with tested models andframeworks, all supported by relevantresearch.

Specific areas of support:• Cultural mapping of partner

or merging organisations• Facilitation of partner or merger

integration teams• Guidance to the top team/s on

effective processes for integrationand performance

• Guiding and assisting the HR team asit goes about its harmonisation work

• Guiding and assisting thedevelopment of a changecommunications strategy and plan

Managing Employment RelationsThe higher education sector is relativelywell organised by trade unions andother employee voice institutions andsuccessful change managementbecomes much easier if therepresentatives of the workforce areinvolved in the process.

Specific areas of support:• A diagnostic approach that identifies

the strengths and weaknesses of allparties. We undertake semi-structured interviews with managersand workforce representatives to getto grips with the realities of therelationship.

• The facilitation of discussionsbetween managers and employeerepresentatives using the findingsfrom the diagnostic.

• Facilitation of focus groups withemployees to gather intelligenceabout what the workplace is reallylike. A full report of our findings toinform the development of a newemployment relations strategy.

• The development of an employmentrelations strategy that is integratedinto and supports the delivery of yourorganisational strategy.

w w w . e l e m e n t a l e a d e r s h i p . c o . u k

StrategicUnderstanding

LeadershipCapability

S t r a t e g i c A g i l i t y

Alignment &Engagement

Innovation &Resource Fluidity

HR AgilityOur HR consultants have deepknowledge of the challenges facinghigher education and will work withHR directors and their teams as theyassist their own institutions inbecoming more strategically agile.

Specific areas of support:• Review and report on the

effectiveness of the HR function• Facilitate HR team strategy and

development workshops• Co-create new performance

management strategies, systems and instruments

• Co-create new talent and rewardstrategies

• Guide and advise on ‘work and well being’ issues

• Co-create new internalcommunication strategies and plans

• Individual coaching for HR Directors

Innovation & Resource Fluidity

Innovation and ImprovementOur approach to innovation andimprovement involves interventionsthat engage large groups of people instrategic dialogue, the development ofoptions for change, knowledge sharingand collective problem solving. Thismodel is deliberately designed as analternative to a ‘command and control’response to complex organisationalchallenges. It is a way of dipping in tothe vast sea of human potential,creativity and wisdom that exists in and around all organisations and ofchanging the nature of theorganisational conversation. We haveused this large group approach, basedupon dialogue, to improveorganisational processes, generateinnovative solutions to ‘intransigent’problems and to liberate new ways ofthinking and behaving.

Having all stakeholders together in thesame room creates a broad base ofknowledge, improves cross-functionalworking, and maximises “wholesystem” learning and ultimately deliversa workable plan. This approach aims to

give voice and influence to peoplethroughout an organisation fostering a sense of ‘one team’ whilst honouringand valuing essential diversity.

Specific areas of support:• Guiding and advising on appropriate

organisation design options • Facilitating business process

improvement groups• Guiding and advising on the creation

of an innovation enabling culture• Facilitating innovation and

improvement groups• Facilitating organisation wide

dialogue around critical strategicissues

w w w . e l e m e n t a l e a d e r s h i p . c o . u k

The consultancy was formed inOctober 2008 by Richard Sharpe,formerly Senior Associate Director,Leadership, with The Work Foundation.Richard works with a team of world-class Associates who, like him, arecommitted to the future of UK higher education as central to thedevelopment of both a better societyand a better economy. We believe thatHE is critical to the success of the UK’sgrowing knowledge and innovationeconomy and that it essential that HE is sustained, protected and encouragedto flourish if the UK is to achieve itseconomic and societal goals.

The Elementa consultancy team hasinternational experience across private,public and third sectors. For moreinformation go towww.elementaleadership.co.uk

Our work in Higher EducationElementa works across the highereducation sector and is proud of itssignificant, ongoing relationships with a fast growing number of UK HEIscovering all of the mission groups.

Our work in HE leads us to believe thatthe complexity of the organisational

challenges faced by individualinstitutions and the sector as a whole,requires a strategic, systemic responsethat avoids the linear and mechanisticapproaches which so many in HEdistrust and fear.

The potential responses to thechallenges facing the sector are by nomeans pre-determined and there isroom for constructive managementchoice in shaping the future ofindividual institutions.

What is the Elementa Leadership Difference?• Our knowledge and experience

of higher education and ourcommitment to it

• Our research into the elements of an ‘agile university’

• Our evidence-based approach to consultancy

• Our international and cross-sectoral experience

• The quality of our people

• Our unrivalled value for money

• Our track record in co-creating and partnering with our clients

Elementa Leadership is a

strategic change and

leadership consultancy.

We work in partnership

with clients to develop

greater strategic and

operational agility in

order to enable

sustainable high

performance.

wearewho

For further information about our services and approachplease contact Richard Sharpe on 07957 136558 or email richard@elementaleadership.co.ukPlease visit our website www.elementaleadership.co.uk

find out more

w w w . e l e m e n t a l e a d e r s h i p . c o . u k